Strength Through Struggle
by RingosGarden
Summary: AKA Taylor Black and the Order of the Phoenix. Year Five of the Taylor Black Saga- I suggest reading from the beginning.


**Year Five, folks.**

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"Grab hold of my arm and I will apparate you there."

I do as McGonagall tells me to do and hold on tight to her left arm as Hogsmeade disappears from my view and we land in a patch of grass. McGonagall leads me across the street where she hands me a piece of paper.

"Memorize this."

I look at the words on the paper and smile at Dumbledore's handwriting. "_The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London."_

I nod at McGonagall, she takes the piece of paper from me, and quickly lights it on fire as we stand between numbers eleven and thirteen Grimmauld Place. I concentrate on what I had just read and a large battered door appears along with the windows and walls of the house. McGonagall taps the door with her wand once and from the clicks from behind the door, there was more than just magic blocking the entrance.

McGonagall leads me inside and lights the lanterns around the hallway with her wand revealing peeling wallpaper, cobweb covered chandeliers and lanterns (all shaped as serpents), age-blackened portraits and a threadbare carpet stretching down the hall.

"Ah," I state. "Home, sweet home."

McGonagall shushes me and I can tell she doesn't want to wake up the life sized portrait of my grandmother that hung further down in the hall. "Dumbledore wishes for me to remind you that you are allowed to use magic while here, wand or otherwise, and he asks that you begin cleaning as this will be Headquarters. Your father will be here in about a week and the first official meeting will be held on July the eleventh so at least three bedrooms should be cleaned by then…the Weasleys will be staying here after that date so you will have plenty of help."

"Lovely," I reply, sarcastically and McGonagall smiles sadly at me.

"You're doing a great service for the Order."

"Sure," I reply. "Which I'm not allowed to join yet because I'm not seventeen or outside of school and which half its members, even though my father is innocent, still don't trust me."

"Everyone makes mistakes," McGonagall states and pats me on the arm. "Dumbledore has placed a decent amount of food here so you'll be fine with that. Is there anything else before I leave?"

"Yeah," I say with a frown. "Does my father have to come so soon?"

She replies with an odd look. "Are you all right, Taylor?"

"As much as I can be," I reply coldly.

With one last look at me, she walks out of the door, leaving me alone in the 'Noble and Most Ancient House of Black.'

I sigh and walk past two long and moth-eaten curtains where I know from memory that my grandmother's portrait is behind. There's a large umbrella stand made from a troll's leg before leading to a staircase. Deciding that I might as well choose a bedroom to stay in, I start up the stairs, passing a row of plaques with mounted House Elf heads.

At the landing there is a row of doors and the first on the right is a twin bedroom, mostly covered in cobwebs and fallen wallpaper. Most of the other rooms on the floor are in the same condition, except, thank Merlin, the bathroom which happens to be relatively clean.

The door at the very end of the hallway belonged to my grandmother and I have no wish to enter that room. To the left of it, however, was my father's room. "_Alohamora," _I state, and open the door after it clicks, signaling it being unlocked. I can't help smiling at the over enthusiastic display of Gryffindor colors, a great contrast to the Slytherin colors of the rest of the house. The walls were filled with Muggle pictures of almost naked women along with the Gryffindor banners. On his mirror is a picture of him, James, Remus and Peter from school, their faces smiling and hands waving at the camera. I'm unable to take it down when I try; it obviously had a permanent sticking charm on it.

I walk out of the room and walk across the hall to last door in the hall. The sign on the door makes me smirk. "_Do Not Enter Without Express Permission of Regulus Arcturus Black."_

I unlock the door and shake my head at the surroundings. "This is more like it," I say, taking in the many Slytherin banners. Behind his bed are many yellowing newspaper articles. Moving closer to them, I see that they're entirely about the Dark Lord and his followers and were clipped a good three years before Regulus' death. What surprises me, are the pictures on his mirror. One being a Quidditch team picture, with Regulus in the middle, meaning that he was the seeker. The other, was a picture of Regulus and Snape with their arms around each other, pretending to wrestle for the camera.

Snape had never told me that he and my uncle were close, so needless to say I am a bit upset at the picture, not understanding why Snape had kept that from me. Looking around the room, and noticing that it was the cleanest of all the bedrooms I had been in, I take my case out of my pocket and place it on the bed, bringing it back to its normal size.

Deciding that I would work on making the bedrooms livable later, I walk back out of the room and down the hall, lighting lanterns as I pass and glancing at the numerous portraits on the wall as I descend the stairs, a few of the people in them following me as I make my way down.

When I walk back into the hallway I jump as a voice calls out to me.

"Who is in my house?"

I recognize the voice and walk to the large curtains that are now pulled open. I kneel down before the portrait before speaking. "It's just me, grandmother," I state looking at the large portrait of my grandmother, Walburga Black.

"Stand up, girl."

I do as I am told and stand before the life sized portrait of my grandmother as she looks me over.

"What are you doing here, Adara?"

I pause before responding to her portrait. "Your house is to be the new Headquarters for Dumbledore and his Order. My father has given him permission."

"WHAT?"

I wince at her voice. Although I was prepared for her outrage, the loudness certainly surprised me.

"MY FILTHY, TRAITOROUS, MUGGLE LOVING SON IS ALLOWING THE NOBLE HOUSE OF BLACK TO BE USED AGAISNT THE DARK LORD?"

I can only nod at her as she wails; quickly leaving her portrait and I notice her running through the portraits of others up the stairs.

"Nice job, Adara."

I turn around quickly to see a portrait of Phineas Nigellus, my great-great-great-great-grandfather.

I roll my eyes at him. "She would have found out eventually, I might as well be the one to have told her."

"Dumbledore wishes me to send welcome."

"I've been here plenty of times before," I reply. "There is really no need to have welcomed me to this filth."

Phineas ignores my statement. "He also wishes me to tell you that the House Elf Kreacher still resides somewhere within the house and asks that you treat him with at least some consideration."

"Yes, Sir," I reply and he nods at me.

"Welcome home, Adara," he says with a slight smile before disappearing from view, having gone back to his other portrait which hung in Dumbledore's office.

I follow a set of stairs down into the dark basement kitchen, lighting a fireplace at the far end of the room along with several hanging lanterns. The room is almost entirely filled with cobwebs, but with a wave of my wand they disappear, making the stone walled kitchen seem almost homey. Pots and iron pans hang from the ceiling, dusty from years of not being used and a large table spanning the middle of the room.

"Kreacher," I call out and within seconds he apparates before me, bowing deeply in front of me.

"Stop that," I state and he does so.

"Kreacher is so happy to see Miss Adara."

"Thanks, Kreacher," I state in boredom. "It is most…entertaining…to see you once more."

He smiles up at my feigned compliment.

"I need to talk to you," I state sternly at the elf. "And you need to listen closely to what I am about to say."

Kreacher nods violently at me and I kneel down so we're the same height. "There are going to be many people coming in and out of this house very shortly…people who shouldn't be here. Blood-traitors, half-bloods, Muggle lovers, and even a Mudblood. I need you to try to be civil to them."

"Why is these people to be in the Black house?" he says, looking about to cry.

"It is under Master Sirius' order," I reply to him. "As he is master of this household, it is per his orders that we must be subjected. I will need your help cleaning up this house."

"Yes, Miss Adara," he replies, grudgingly.

"Please clean the bedrooms off of the second landing, leaving the last three alone. I will be staying in Master Regulus' bedroom while I am here."

He nods at me and disapparates upstairs. Using a scouring charm, I clear the layers of dust out of the room and throw myself down on one of the chairs around the large wooden table. This was going to be a long summer.

****


End file.
